SOTD #66 // Jetskiis: 'Bodymore'

You’re probably worryingly aware that most artist’s biographies hammer on pointlessly, portentously explaining how the second to last guitar note on the album came to them in a vision where Dave Sitek floated down from his regal musical cloud on high and whispered “Give F# a whack, my son” in their ear. You’re not? Well, the ones that I end up reading do spend far too long trying to explain just how painfully relevant and authentic they are with such anecdotes. But even though I had already fallen for San Francisco’s Jetskiis before I read their biography, hearing them talk about how they focused on “texture and atmosphere” whilst assembling these first few demos both avoided slipping into the above mistake, and summed them up almost perfectly, with no better example than the dreamily lush ‘Bodymore’.

A tight r&b derivative beat strings everything together, bass drives the lamentingly confused vocals, comparisons to The xx become almost unavoidable, and the internet might have just found its new favourite band. A simple formula, really. But there’s no way that Jetskiis are intentionally toeing a careful line in a contrived effort to grab some internet inches, the fragmenting, half tearful, half tripping vocals are enough evidence to the contrary. Yet even if they were, with a texture this brain-grabbing, an atmosphere this forlornly arresting, and even an accurate biography, I’m not sure I’d care; intentionally or not, Jetskiis have conjured from the best bits of the last year a sound that could well make them the future.

Jetskiis: ‘Bodymore’